Mild Tomato & Lentil Soup with Toasted Cheese Dippers

Ingredients

• 150g red lentils, rinsed
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 litre hot vegetable stock
• 1 tsp soft light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 8 slices thick white bread, crusts removed
• 40g butter, softened
• 120g mature Cheddar, grated
• 4 tbsp Greek yogurt
• Natural yoghurt, to serve
• Fresh parsley, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat and add the onion, carrot, celery and red pepper with a generous pinch of salt. Soften for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until everything is sweet, glossy and just starting to catch.
2. Stir in the garlic, tomato puree and oregano and cook for 2 minutes, until the puree turns a shade darker and smells deeply tomatoey.
3. Tip in the lentils, chopped tomatoes, hot stock and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have collapsed and the soup is thick and silky.
4. Blitz with a stick blender until smooth — you want a velvety, sweet-tasting tomato soup with no recognisable lumps. Taste and season well with salt and plenty of black pepper. If it has tightened too much, loosen with a splash of hot water.
5. While the soup finishes, butter the bread on one side. Sandwich the grated Cheddar between pairs with the buttered sides facing out, press together firmly and cut each sandwich into three fingers.
6. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the sandwich fingers for 2 to 3 minutes per side, pressing lightly with a fish slice, until deeply golden, crisp and oozing in the middle.
7. Ladle the hot soup into bowls, swirl through a spoonful of Greek yogurt and scatter with parsley if using. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a crack of black pepper, and pile the cheese dippers alongside for dunking.